Chapter 9

The Arts


Life is short, art endures.

Hippocrates



What is art? Art essentially comprises of two components – the fine arts, which encompasses painting and sculpture and the performing arts which encompass music, dance, theatre and films. Both these in turn have various forms and sub-forms.


The performing arts entertain, inform, provoke and communicate issues in a captivating form with the use of visual and sound effects. Technology is making this medium even more effective, for these purposes.


Neurological studies have shown that humans developed art based on the primitive human instincts for survival, security and the need to communicate and educate, before the evolution of human language.



The fine arts need a cultivation of taste for appreciation especially the forms which employ exaggeration, subtlety, concealment or distortion. The performing arts too need the effort of cultivation for appreciation.


An exposure from an early age to both the fine arts and the performing arts enables you to learn to appreciate these, even without a formal education or training. You tend to naturally ‘imbibe’ them as you grow up.


You need to make an effort to develop a taste for the arts. Most people develop the quickest taste for movies as they are a wide variety of genres and cater to varying tastes and are usually very entertaining.


They are also low-cost and available at increasing convenience with options of cinema houses, TV, videos, DVDs, CDs, internet, etc.


There are many art appreciation courses that are offered for all the arts both performing and fine arts. You should try and take an interest in the arts, if not as a participant/performer, at least as a part of the audience/visitor.


Research shows that the early cave paintings were first resorted to by humans, as the first forms of written human communication.


By developing an interest, appreciation and sensitivity to the arts, you move a step further up in the evolution ladder from your primitive origins.


Art adds value to the

quality of your life.